Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries

Creator

Oliphant, James Orin

Title

J. Orin Oliphant Papers

ID

Cage 563

Date [inclusive]

1914-1978

Extent

26.0 containers.

General Physical Description note

15 linear feet of shelf space.

Language

English

Abstract

Personal correspondence and papers, together with research notes, drafts and related materials. The papers concern the history of cattle ranching, 19th century religious missionaries in the Pacific Northwest, the teacher and missionary Jonathan Going, and other aspects of the history of the Pacific Northwest.

Preferred Citation note

Biographical/Historical note

A convenient biographical sketch of James Orin Oliphant is found the Ye Galleon Press reprint of William Emsley Jackson's
Diary of a Cattle Drive from LaGrande, Oregon, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, published in 1983. That sketch is quoted here:

James Orin Oliphant was born on March 23, 1894, in the Whitman County town of Elberton, Washington, not far from the Palouse River. In 1913 he graduated from the State Normal School in Cheney. Three years later he received his A.B. degree from the University of Washington in Seattle. He returned to Cheney for two years to teach high school, then joined the Normal School faculty in 1921. From 1921 to 1924 he taught as a member of the Department of History and Social Science and served as executive secretary to President Noah Showalter. During these years he used several leaves of absence to continue his work in history under the direction of Edward Meaney at the University of Washington. In 1923- 1924 he was a Denny fellow and in 1924 he received his A.M. He then returned to teaching history and social science at Cheney Normal School. In 1929 he took a leave of absence and went east to Harvard University as an Austin Scholar and in 1930 received his Ph.D from Harvard. His dissertation was on
The Range-Cattle Industry in the Oregon Country to 1890. Rather than returning to the Washington State Normal School at Cheney, Oliphant joined the faculty of Antioch College in Ohio as an associate professor of history. In 1933 he moved to Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where he progressed through the ranks of the professoriate and in 1964 retired as professor emeritus of history. From 1936 to 1944 and again from 1957 to 1962 he served as chairman of the department of history. From 1949 until 1954 he edited Bucknell University Studies. His professional memberships included the American Historical Association and the Agricultural History Society. Upon his retirement Oliphant and his wife May returned to the Pacific Northwest and lived in Salem, Oregon, until his death in 1979.

Scope and Contents note

Arrangement note

The arrangement of the papers is an effort to reconstruct the original order that was disrupted when the papers were put in storage for several years after Oliphant's death. This arrangement is basically one of a correspondence series, several series associated with major historical research projects, and a general western history research and information file.

Conditions Governing Access note

This collection is open for research use.

Custodial History note

These papers of historian J. Orin Oliphant (1894-1979) were transferred to the Washington State University Libraries by members of Mr. Oliphant's family, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Purdy of Salem, Oregon, at whose home Oliphant had resided in his later years.

Immediate Source of Acquisition note

These papers were received by the Washington State University Libraries in April, 1982, following an arrangement made by Mr. Oliphant some years before his death.

Processing Information note

The materials were arranged and described by Eddy Sue Judy, working in early 1988, with the project completed by Harvey Young in March-April, 1989.